Going the distance
Olympic torch relays by the numbers
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Alan Hovorka | Story and design
Stacie Kammerling | Illustrations

Alan Hovorka | Story and design
Stacie Kammerling | Illustrations

The almost century-old Olympic torch relay has covered narly half a million miles, changed hands with more than a quarter million people and has been seen by millions more.

This is the Olympic torch relay, by the numbers.

432,000 miles

The torch relay has covered about 432,000 total miles in its 80-year existence.

Someone would need to travel around the earth about 17 times to reach that mileage, with the planet’s circumference being about 24,901 miles.

NASA astronauts will exceed that total mileage on their 2020 trip to the moon. The distance between earth and the moon is about 238,900 miles.

320,000 people

About 320,000 people have served as torchbearers, which is about the same number of people living in Iceland in 2012, according to the World Bank.

The gender distribution of torchbearers is unknown.

Reykjavik, Iceland

5.15 years

The Olympic torch relay has spanned 1,883 days, or 5.15 years, since its inception.

It would take about five years to do two round-trip, manned missions to Mars.

 

3 relays

Out of all 37 relays, only three of them used flames from places other than Olympia, Greece. The 1952 Oslo Games, 1956 Cortina Games and 1960 Squaw Valley Games. The Oslo and Squaw Valley Games used a Nordic flame lit at Morgedal, Norway. The flame for Cortina was lit at the Temple of Capitoline Jove in Rome.

Ten longest torch relays

The 2016 Rio de Janiero Games represented the sixth longest Olympic Torch Relay in history. The 2008 Games holds the distinction of having the longest relay, where the torch traveled more than 85,000 miles. The chart below details the longest relays, in miles, regardless of transportation. Totals do not account for miles traveled in space.

 

2008 Beijing

85,128

2004 Athens

52,567

2014 Sochi

41,631

2010 Vancouver

29,316

2000 Sydney

28,681

2016 Rio

23,758

1996 Atlanta

18,029

Summer games

1964 Tokyo

16,196

Winter games

2002 Salt Lake City

13,737

1956 Melbourne

12,719

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

0

Miles traveled

Ten shortest torch relays

The 1952 Oslo Games were the first winter games to feature an Olympic torch relay, which only visited a small part of Norway. These were the same Games that didn’t use a flame from Olympia, Greece. Distances for 1956, 1964 and 1960 were manually calculated using Olympic maps. The chart below details the longest relays, in miles, regardless of transportation.

Summer games

1952 Oslo

139

Winter games

1956 Stockholm

201

1956 Cortina

372

1964 Innsbruck

453

1976 Montreal

481

1960 Squaw Valley

773

1,001

1998 Nagano

1960 Rome

1,157

1976 Innsbruck

1,210

1936 Berlin

1,910

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Miles traveled

Transporting torches

The Olympic torch relay began as a foot relay, traveling from Olympia, Greece, to Berlin. However, politics almost always underscore the Olympics and the Olympic torch relay because of how countries are always trying to one up each other, Olympic historian Philip Barker said.

One area that political creep is visible is in the decision to use different methods of transportation to transport the flame, with countries trying to find most grandiose way to move it.

“Everyone wants to be better than everyone else. That’s why there are these little superlatives each time,” he said.

Every Olympic host wants to make their Olympics the best ever, he said. In part, this is how the torch has made it up into space four times and traveled to the Great Barrier Reef.

These calculations are based on the explicitly mentioned modes of transportation in Olympic reference documents.

37 by foot

Every relay travels by foot, whether its by skis, roller blades, ice skates, runner or a combination of the above.

28 by air

Twenty-eight relays used helicopters, planes and jets to transport the flame. The bulk of these occurred during Winter Olympics. This count includes the use of the concorde jet in 1992.

21 by water

This covers the use of swimming and boats. This total also includes the 2000 Sydney Relay where a scuba diver traveled to the Great Barrier Reef.

12 by vehicle

The relay has used cars, trucks and buses 12 times in 80 years.

6 by horse

The relay first used horses in 1956 during the Cortina and Stockholm relays and wouldn’t do so again until the Munich Games. The most recent relays to feature horseback were during the Atlanta, Sydney and Sochi Games.

4 by bike

Just four relays used bikes to transport the relay, starting with 1968 Grenoble Relay, 1972 Munich Relay and 1976 Montreal Relay. They were last used in the relay for the 1992 Barcelona Games.

3 by train

The torch first traveled by train during the 1996 Atlanta Relay. It used this mode of transportation again in 2014 and 2016.

2 by space shuttle

An unlit torch traveled into space twice onboard a space shuttle, once in 1996 abroad Columbia and again in 2000 abroad Atlantis. The torch has traveled into space four times, two by space shuttle, one by Soyuz and one by satelite.

2 ISS visits

An unlit torch traveled to the International Space Station in 2000 and 2014. Russian cosmonauts took the torch into open space for the first time in 2014.

1 by satelite

In 1976, the flame was transmited by satelite to Montreal, where a laser reignited the flame at the cauldron.

1 by scuba

In 2000, the flame was taken to the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Australia. A flare system kept the flame burning underwater. This instance is counted in the “by water” section.

1 by concorde jet

The flame travled aboard a Concorde supersonic jet from Athens, Greece to Albertville, France in 1992. This instance is counted in the “by air” section

3 relays

432,000 miles

Out of all 37 relays, only three of them used flames from places other than Olympia, Greece. The 1952 Oslo Games, 1956 Cortina Games and 1960 Squaw Valley Games. The Oslo and Squaw Valley Games used a Nordic flame lit at Morgedal, Norway. The flame for Cortina was lit at the Temple of Capitoline Jove in Rome.

The torch relay has covered about 432,000 total miles in its 80-year existence.

Someone would need to travel around the earth about 17 times to reach that mileage, with the planet’s circumference being about 24,901 miles.

NASA astronauts will exceed that total mileage on their 2020 trip to the moon. The distance between earth and the moon is about 238,900 miles.

320,000 people

5.15 years

The Olympic torch relay has spanned 1,883 days, or 5.15 years, since its inception.

It would take about five years to do two round-trip, manned missions to Mars.

 

About 320,000 people have served as torchbearers, which is about the same number of people living in Iceland in 2012, according to the World Bank.

The gender distribution of torchbearers is unknown.

Reykjavik, Iceland

Ten shortest torch relays

Ten longest torch relays

The 1952 Oslo Games were the first winter games to feature an Olympic torch relay, which only visited a small part of Norway. These were the same Games that didn’t use a flame from Olympia, Greece. Distances for 1956, 1964 and 1960 were manually calculated using Olympic maps. The chart below details the longest relays, in miles, regardless of transportation.

The 2016 Rio de Janiero Games represented the sixth longest Olympic Torch Relay in history. The 2008 Games holds the distinction of having the longest relay, where the torch traveled more than 85,000 miles. The chart below details the longest relays, in miles, regardless of transportation. Totals do not account for miles traveled in space.

 

Summer games

2008 Beijing

85,128

1952 Oslo

139

Winter games

2004 Athens

52,567

1956 Stockholm

201

2014 Sochi

41,631

1956 Cortina

372

2010 Vancouver

29,316

1964 Innsbruck

453

2000 Sydney

28,681

1976 Montreal

481

2016 Rio

23,758

1960 Squaw Valley

773

1996 Atlanta

18,029

1,001

1998 Nagano

1964 Tokyo

16,196

1960 Rome

1,157

2002 Salt Lake City

13,737

1976 Innsbruck

1,210

1956 Melbourne

12,719

1936 Berlin

1,910

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

0

0

500

1000

1500

2000

Miles traveled

Miles traveled

Transporting torches

The Olympic torch relay began as a foot relay, traveling from Olympia, Greece, to Berlin. However, politics almost always underscore the Olympics and the Olympic torch relay because of how countries are always trying to one up each other, Olympic historian Philip Barker said.

One area that political creep is visible is in the decision to use different methods of transportation to transport the flame, with countries trying to find most grandiose way to move it.

“Everyone wants to be better than everyone else. That’s why there are these little superlatives each time,” he said.

Every Olympic host wants to make their Olympics the best ever, he said. In part, this is how the torch has made it up into space four times and traveled to the Great Barrier Reef.

These calculations are based on the explicitly mentioned modes of transportation in Olympic reference documents.

3 by train

37 by foot

The torch first traveled by train during the 1996 Atlanta Relay. It used this mode of transportation again in 2014 and 2016.

Every relay travels by foot, whether its by skis, roller blades, ice skates, runner or a combination of the above.

2 by space shuttle

28 by air

An unlit torch traveled into space twice onboard a space shuttle, once in 1996 abroad Columbia and again in 2000 abroad Atlantis. The torch has traveled into space four times, two by space shuttle, one by Soyuz and one by satelite.

Twenty-eight relays used helicopters, planes and jets to transport the flame. The bulk of these occurred during Winter Olympics. This count includes the use of the concorde jet in 1992.

21 by water

This covers the use of swimming and boats. This total also includes the 2000 Sydney Relay where a scuba diver traveled to the Great Barrier Reef.

2 ISS visits

An unlit torch traveled to the International Space Station in 2000 and 2014. Russian cosmonauts took the torch into open space for the first time in 2014.

12 by vehicle

1 by satelite

The relay has used cars, trucks and buses 12 times in 80 years.

In 1976, the flame was transmited by satelite to Montreal, where a laser reignited the flame at the cauldron.

6 by horse

1 by scuba

The relay first used horses in 1956 during the Cortina and Stockholm relays and wouldn’t do so again until the Munich Games. The most recent relays to feature horseback were during the Atlanta, Sydney and Sochi Games.

In 2000, the flame was taken to the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Australia. A flare system kept the flame burning underwater. This instance is counted in the “by water” section.

4 by bike

1 by concorde jet

Just four relays used bikes to transport the relay, starting with 1968 Grenoble Relay, 1972 Munich Relay and 1976 Montreal Relay. They were last used in the relay for the 1992 Barcelona Games.

The flame travled aboard a Concorde supersonic jet from Athens, Greece to Albertville, France in 1992. This instance is counted in the “by air” section


Story and data by Alan Hovorka
Design by Alan Hovorka and Stacie Kammerling
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All images used in this project were published in the public domain or under Creative Commons.
The work on this website is for noncommercial, educational purposes and is not associated with the International Olympic Committee or any Olympic properties.